Sentence Length of
Current Commitment

Almost one-fourth (24.4%) of current inmates have sentences of less than three years.

Whereas the AVERAGE sentence length of current inmates is 15.1 years, the MEDIAN sentence length (same number of inmates with sentences above and below that number) is 7.5 years.

Sixty-three percent of current inmates are serving under the 85% law, which means that for crimes committed on or after October 1, 1995, the inmate has to serve at least 85% of his or her sentence.

The largest category of sentence length for current inmates is "Greater than 1 year, Less than 2" (9,357 or 13.0% of the inmate population on June 30, 2001). This category is followed closely by those with Life or Death sentences, 8,367 or 11.6% of all inmates.

Total Sentence Length
Of Current
Commitment
(Inmate Population on June 30, 2001)

Category

White Males

White Females

Black Males

Black Females

Other Males

Other Females

Total

Percent

Cumulative Percent

1 Year or Less

5

0

2

0

0

0

7

0.0%

0.0%

GT 1, LE 2 Yrs.*

3,670

584

4,356

538

168

41

9,357

13.0%

13.0%

GT 2, LE 3 Yrs.

3,155

327

4,142

404

147

43

8,218

11.4%

24.4%

GT 3, LE 4 Yrs.

2,205

201

2,735

215

134

18

5,508

7.7%

32.1%

GT 4, LE 5 Yrs.

2,750

173

3,149

228

114

23

6,437

8.9%

41.0%

GT 5, LE 6 Yrs.

1,382

59

1,548

94

54

13

3,150

4.4%

45.4%

GT 6, LE 7 Yrs.

1,185

67

1,347

70

82

18

2,769

3.8%

49.2%

GT 7, LE 8 Yrs.

976

40

1,214

50

49

7

2,336

3.2%

52.5%

GT 8, LE 9 Yrs.

617

24

730

21

25

5

1,422

2.0%

54.5%

GT 9, LE 10 Yrs.

1,578

51

2,007

94

93

19

3,842

5.3%

59.8%

GT 10, LE 12 Yrs.

1,064

69

1,320

38

73

17

2,581

3.6%

63.4%

GT 12, LE 15 Yrs.

1,939

56

2,631

81

120

10

4,837

6.7%

70.1%

GT 15, LE 24 Yrs.

2,121

80

3,061

85

131

8

5,486

7.6%

77.7%

GT 24, LE 30 Yrs.

1,495

41

2,232

42

93

9

3,912

5.4%

83.2%

GT 30, LE 40 Yrs.

756

24

1,118

23

51

3

1,975

2.7%

85.9%

GT 40, LE 50 Yrs.

264

6

401

8

12

0

691

1.0%

86.9%

GT 50 Yrs.

429

11

621

6

26

1

1,094

1.5%

88.4%

Life/Death

3,775

120

4,163

70

233

6

8,367

11.6%

100.0%

Data Unavailable

7

2

7

1

0

1

18

TOTAL

29,373

1,935

36,784

2,068

1,605

242

72,007

100.0%

100.0%

Average**

15.4

8.8

15.5

7.6

16.9

8.5

15.1

Median**

7.5

3.3

8.0

3.5

10.0

5.0

7.5

* GT - Greater than, LE - Less than or equal to. ** Sentence lengths of 50 years or longer, life, and death are coded as 50 years for calculations of averages and medians.